We only keep what we have by giving it away. Altruism helps the giver. It's at the heart of mutual aid and lived experience recovery organisations. This study from a few years back explores some of the issues in family recovery groups. The researchers in this Finnish research looked at communication and support in Al-Anon … Continue reading Altruism: balm for stigma, boon for recovery
Tag: Mutual Aid
What’s essential for recovery to happen?
I would tell them straight, recovery does not happen in isolation Recovery group member We know mutual aid works to help people with substance use disorders achieve their goals. The recent Cochrane Review[1], which analysed the evidence for Alcoholics Anonymous reported pretty impressive results. John F Kelly, Keith Humphreys and Marica Ferri “determined that AA was … Continue reading What’s essential for recovery to happen?
Loneliness in the pandemic: risky times
Loneliness and isolation are bedfellows of addiction. Anything that intensifies loneliness will come with increased risks in tow. Of course, it’s not just those with substance use disorders who suffer from loneliness. In 2014, Professor John Cacioppo presented at a conference in Chicago, pointing out that that the impact of loneliness on premature death ‘is nearly as strong … Continue reading Loneliness in the pandemic: risky times
Treatment in England: positive, interesting and alarming
Public Health England (PHE) recently published their summary of what’s going on in substance use disorder treatment in England over 2019-20. Despite the shared culture and proximity of Scotland and England, there’s been a significant divergence in drug and alcohol policy and treatment delivery over the years. We’ve not been good as we might have … Continue reading Treatment in England: positive, interesting and alarming
Reasons to be cheerful
Recovery is not only possible, it is common.Eddie et al, 2020 If you are looking for reasons to be cheerful in these testing times, read on. I’ve been taking a look at a piece of research (1), about to be published, from the Recovery Research Institute in Massachusetts, which examined questionnaire responses from over 25,000 … Continue reading Reasons to be cheerful
Add in mutual aid for better outcomes
The majority of treatment for drug and alcohol problems is outpatient. Trying to achieve abstinence can be tough and some evidence suggests it is more likely to be the goal of clients than the aspiration of professionals for their clients. How well do clients do? This study by Gerald Cochrane and colleagues from New York looked at … Continue reading Add in mutual aid for better outcomes
Vaccinating against drug and alcohol deaths
There are 200 deaths a day related to the opiate crisis in the USA. In Scotland we have the highest number of drug-related deaths in Europe, perhaps in the world. A task force set up by the Scottish Government has recommended six interventions to tackle our crisis which we hope will make a difference. I … Continue reading Vaccinating against drug and alcohol deaths
Addiction stigma: the deep irony
Stigma is commanded by a deep irony: where peer pressure is what likely keeps us quiet, peer support is what enables us to speak up.Paul E Terry One of the ways to counter stigma is for people with lived experience of addiction and recovery to share their stories. Indeed, Pat Corrigan, a respected stigma researcher, says … Continue reading Addiction stigma: the deep irony
Strong evidence
Keith Humphreys directs us to a new paper by SMART Recovery UK in support of mutual aid groups in general. It's well written and avoids sectarian arguments of 12 step vs. SMART. Although there is an extensive body of research into Mutual Aid, most studies are methodologically weak, typically describing correlations without the ability to infer … Continue reading Strong evidence
Early mutual aid involvement improves outcomes
DJ Mac provides an outstanding summary of a recently published study on the pre-treatment and early treatment behavior of outpatient addiction treatment patients and their outcomes. He starts with this finding: The folk who tested negative for drugs early on didn’t seem to have worse drug problems, but they did have better mental and physical … Continue reading Early mutual aid involvement improves outcomes
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